We are One
by Crumpet04
Summary: In order for Crystal Tokyo to appear the Senshi have to fully connect with their past selves. Will they be able to deal with themselves?
1. The separation

We are one…At least we should be.

Pluto stood in front of her time gate, staring into nothingness. At least other people would see nothing. Pluto saw everything. She could keep track of hundreds of different timelines at once, but right now she was only inspecting two.

These particular lines had a similar start, but like all time lines they have a point in which they break off into completely different futures. In this case one of the futures had the Earth in total despair, while the other one lead to Crystal Tokyo. Pluto needed to make sure the better of the two options played itself out. She was desperately searching for the beginning of the two time lines. Finally she found it.

"No, that couldn't be it." She said to no one. "That's such a small thing, how could that lead to the destruction of Earth?" She continued to talk to herself. Slowly she stepped away from the gate and sat down in her comfy armchair in order to think about things better.

"What should I do?" Pluto continued her conversation with herself. "If they don't act soon Crystal Tokyo will vanish, and I won't let that happen, not after I had to sit back and just let the Silver Millennium be destroyed. How can I help them without telling everything? This is always my dilemma. What is telling them too much of the 'would be future', and what can I say without effecting them." Pluto shook her head, her long green hair slowly moving in a wave behind her. "This is the part of my job I hate." She confided to herself.

After several minutes of shifting her position in the great big chair Pluto stood up, garnet staff in hand. "I guess I'll just have to explain it to them straight. I won't risk them not understanding me and destroying the world." She nodded and jogged to her time gate searching for the present timeline.

As she was searching her staff started to glow. Setsuna stopped her search and looked at it. "I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I refuse to let everyone die again." At that the staff slowly returned to normal. "I knew you'd agree with me Pluto…thank you. I'd hate to see our friends leave us again; not when they shouldn't." She gave a halfhearted smile to her staff and turned back to the time gate.

She found the timeline in a matter of seconds and zoomed into Japan. Pluto was looking for the rest of the Outers and she found them all in the home they shared. The old Senshi smiled as she stepped through the gate.

Her entrance into the mortal realm wasn't flashy and bright as Chibi-Usa's was. It was actually completely opposite. She just appeared. Not in any special, or spectacular way. Simply put one minute the porch was empty the next Pluto stood on it digging for her key.

She sighed "I must've left it in my room before I left." Setsuna then stopped digging in her pockets and extended her right arm in order to ring the doorbell.

Setsuna could hear the rush of feet. "hah! I beat you!" She heard Hotaru's voice say as the door flew open. Just inside stood Hotaru and Haruka, who was slumped against the wall.

"Setsuna-mama!" Hotaru exclaimed as she hugged Setsuna very tightly. "I thought you wouldn't be able to come home for a long time, what happened?"

Setsuna smiled, "You still get right down to business don't you Hotaru-chan. Well, why I'm here can wait for a bit; at the very least until I get inside."

"Well come on in." Haruka said. "What happened to your key anyway? You do live here you know. Ringing the doorbell is for visitors." Haruka said as she shook hands with Setsuna. "Good to see you though." Haruka gave the tall woman a saucy grin.

Setsuna laughed out loud. "I've been gone a month, and you've started that again!" She continued to chuckle all the way to the kitchen, where they found Michiru stirring something in a big pot.

"Haruka isn't annoying you yet is she?" Michiru asked as she turned around to welcome Setsuna home.

Setsuna smiled, "No, she's just being herself. I don't know how you can take her random flirting all the time." At this Michiru smirked.

"It's a simple answer." She paused and her face became insanely innocent. "I just have Haruka wrapped around my finger. The minute she really steps out of line I pull her back. Anyway," She added, "My Haruka only really sees me." She smiled as she lightly kissed Haruka's cheek.

The minute Michiru touched her cheek all of the anger that had built up inside Haruka at the thought of being whipped completely vanished. She melted, and a dumb smile appeared on her face.

"See?" Michiru added. "I don't have to worry. Haruka isn't going anywhere." With that Michiru returned to her pot.

Haruka sighed, and Hotaru and Setsuna held back laughter.

"What're you cooking?" Setsuna managed to get out without laughing hysterically.

"Just some soup. Since your home does that mean you'll be eating with us?"

"No she can't eat, Setsuna-mama has some pretty important business to take care of." Hotaru answered for her.

"Oh you do." Michiru replied in a serious tone. "What's going on? Is there a threat on the princess?" Neptune asked with all thought of diner gone from her mind.

Pluto looked as if she hadn't wanted the joking and normal conversation to end, but resigned herself to the fact that they were all Senshi and time was close to running out. She sighed and looked up at the rest of the Outers, who were all looking at her very intently. Haruka had even come out of her daze to stare at her with those big teal eyes of hers.

"No," Pluto started, and a small collective sigh went around the table. "But we aren't safe either." With that Pluto got confused looks. "And if everything doesn't go correctly the Earth will be destroyed and Crystal Tokyo will vanish without ever being created."

"If it's not a threat than what's wrong?" Haruka asked bluntly. "And why does something that could destroy Earth not count as a threat?" She added completely confused by now.

"Well," She paused. "I guess I should've been more specific. It's not an outside threat. It's a threat from us." Pluto finished. The three just looked at her with very blank faces. Again Haruka was the one to speak for the three of them.

"Set's you've really got to stop talking crazy. Are you trying to say that one of the Sailor Senshi are the problem?" Setsuna sighed and shook her head at the question.

"I'll just have to explain it to everyone at once. Call everyone together for an emergency meeting." She directed the request at Hotaru.

"Right I'll ask everyone to meet us at the shrine in an hour." Hotaru said as she raced out of the kitchen to go call the Inner Senshi.

The other three Outer Senshi looked at one another. "Well, Michiru how about we have some of that soup you were making" Setsuna asked while patting her stomach and smiling.

Michiru smiled back. "Did you miss my cooking?"

"Actually I missed Mako-chan's cooking, but I'm really hungry." She confessed with a sheepish grin. Michiru looked as if she wasn't going to feed Setsuna anymore, but Haruka saved her.

"Now Michi, you can't really be mad about that, I even miss Mako-chan's cooking." With that Michiru shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I do too." She said softly.

"Hotaru!" The three yelled at once. The young girl popped her head in the doorway. "Yes, Mamma's and Poppa." She said quickly.

Setsuna smiled, "Would you be sure to ask Mako-chan to bake something to bring."

"Preferably something sweet." Haruka added in a whisper.

"I heard that Haruka." Michiru added in a stern voice. Haruka cringed. "And it's a wonderful idea!" She finished hugging the tall racer. Hotaru's face broke out into a big grin and she again went to go finish calling everyone.

An hour later the four Outer Senshi sat in Rei's room waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. Rei was already there obviously, but at the moment she was in the kitchen preparing drinks for everyone. As the Outers' sat talking Ami slide the door open and smiled at them.

"Hi everyone." She greeted them with as she was closing the door behind her.

"Whoa Ami." She heard from behind her. "Don't close the door just yet I still need to come in." Ami turned around to see Makoto halfway in the door. It looked as though she had tried to slip pass before Ami could close it all the way and got stuck. Ami happily reopened the door for her.

"Hey Haruka-san, Michiru-san, Setsuna-san, and Taru-chan." Makoto said as she sat down next to her blue haired friend. The Outer Senshi all greeted the two very eagerly; it wasn't often that the Outer and Inner Senshi got a chance to see each other.

"Are we still waiting for Mina and Usagi?" Rei asked as she entered her room with a tray full of drinks.

"Oh Mako-chan," Setsuna said suddenly. "You didn't happen to remember to bring some food did you?" She asked with her eyes a bit wider than usual.

Makoto chuckled; it sometimes still amazed her that everyone loved her cooking so much. "Of course I did Setsuna." She said as she pulled a bag out from under the table. "I made some cookies."

"Did I hear someone say cookies?" Everyone heard from behind the sliding door. They all looked up and sure enough as the door slid open there stood their princess with the leader of her Senshi right next to her. Usagi looked around, searching for the cookies, when she spotted Makoto she made a mad dash for her.

"Oh Mako-chan." Usagi sang. "Are you the one that made cookies? Can I have some? Where are they Mako-chan?" Usagi asked all these questions right on top of one another. The blonde was very excited and Makoto just laughed as she scratched the back of her head with her right hand.

"Of course I have cookies for you Usagi." Mako-chan said as she pulled another bag out from under the table. "I made you your own batch." And she gave the bag to her princess, who took them and gleefully sat down next to Rei.

Once Usagi took her seat Setsuna stood up, cookie in hand, and cleared her throat. "I know everyone is wondering why I had Hotaru call you all up on such short notice." She started, and the Inner Senshi nodded to her. Usagi was too busy stuffing her face to interrupt so Setsuna continued.

"While searching through the many timelines I have come to realize that the course we are on now has only two outcomes." She took another bite out of the cookie as everyone leaned in. "One outcome is Crystal Tokyo, and the glorious reign of King Endymion and Neo-Queen Serenity." Everyone nodded smiling; Pluto took another bite of the fabulous cookie that Mako-chan had baked.

"And the other time line? Where does it end?" Rei asked getting impatient.

"The total destruction of Earth..." Pluto said quietly.

"What!" All of the Inner Senshi yelled at once as they jumped to their feet.

"How do we stop it?" Was the first question out of Makoto's mouth.

"Can we stop it?" Minako asked as her voice jumped an octave.

Setsuna raised her arms, signaling the young woman to calm down. "Calm down, we don't have much time. In order for the time line to end at Crystal Tokyo you must all fully connect with your planets, and become one as you were during the Silver Millennium." As normal the Senshi of Time got blank stares, but she was happy to see that they were only from the Inner Senshi, the Outers seemed to understand what she was saying. As Setsuna looked around she noticed that Usagi was holding a cookie mid munch and wasn't moving.

"Usagi." She said. "Usagi." She said again with more force. "USAGI." She said for a third time while shaking the young girls shoulder. Usagi shook out of her stupor and looked around laughing feverously.

"Sorry guys. I guess I just lost it." She said with an airy tone to her voice. Everyone just bowed their heads. Rei was the first to speak.

"So what do we have to do, and how long do we have to do it?" She asked the green haired woman as she stood from her kneeling position. "And when can we start?" She added.

"In order to start we have to bring our Senshi selves into our plane, but not just by transformation. It's something different right Setsuna?" Ami's small voice could be heard from her position next to Makoto.

Setsuna nodded. "Correct in a way Ami. In order to fully connect with them not only do you have to embrace them, but they have to embrace you." Because of the semi dumb looks she was getting Setsuna continued. "Right now the Senshi are allowing you to use their powers to access them when you need to, but in order to be fully connected you have to be able to become them. For example, I'm Pluto first, not Setsuna. Setsuna is another personality of mine, but I _am_ Pluto."

"Well, I understand what you're trying to say, but _how_ do we do that?" Makoto asked. "And what happens to our common selves when we finally reach this thing? We aren't just erased are we?" She added not sure how to word her questions. Setsuna understood her though and replied.

"As to the how; I'll take care of that in a minute. What happens to you Makoto? Nothing happens; you'll just be gaining your past life's memories, and a greater understanding of what differences you and Jupiter have. You'll be able to understand her better, and she'll be able to teach you things. Right now all of you have been relying on your brains and their powers. What you need to do is work together."

With that a small squeak was heard from the corner. Usagi was curled up in a little ball actually. All the women rushed to her side.

"Usagi this is no time to be taking a nap." Rei huffed as she shook the smaller girl. "We've got important stuff to take care of. Come on!" She said as she was finally able to roll the blonde over. Once turned over Usagi's big blue eyes stared up at everyone.

"I can't do this." She stated.

"Why not Odango?" Rei asked.

"I'll never get them to understand me. You all are already so much like your other selves, but I'm nothing like Sailor Moon, or Princess Serenity! I'll be the one to ruin the world!" She exclaimed as she brought her head down crying. Her Senshi collectively looked between one another wondering what to do.

"Don't worry about it Koneko-chan." Haruka said. "I know that you're more like them than you think. It'll be fine." Haruka smiled at her and kneeled down to hug her. After the embrace Haruka looked at her tear strewn eyes. "We will not let Crystal Tokyo vanish; you _will_ stand next to Endymion as Queen. Now let's go." And smiling she pulled the tiny girl up with one hand.

"We're ready Pluto." Usagi said in a very small voice.

"Ok everyone." Pluto started. "Take out your henshin sticks, and your broach." The eight women obeyed. "Now, concentrate on the feeling of transforming, don't say anything; just think about the power surge." As they all thought about the wonderful sensation of changing from their civilian forms to the avatars for their planets the girls started to glow. Each was wrapped in the powerful color of her planet. Pluto smiled and looked at her garnet orb which had appeared by her side.

It was time for Pluto to help them out a bit. The garnet orb glowed a fierce purple, and with the power surge the planetary symbols appeared on each Senshi's forehead.

"Almost." Setsuna whispered to her staff.

Suddenly Uranus appeared, closely followed by Neptune, and then Saturn. After the Outer's came Venus, Mercury following a second behind, then the wild Jupiter, and the brave Mars at the same time. Lastly was Usagi. She was still concentrating, but neither Sailor Moon nor Princess Serenity had appeared. All of the Senshi looked at each other and then at Pluto.

"I guess we'll have to help our princess." Venus stated. "Mercury, Mars, Jupiter focus all your energy into calling for her." The three nodded and quickly sent out a surge of power. Sailor Moon appeared and looked around. Venus looked at her strangely. "Who're you?"

"I'm Sailor Moon." She replied. Venus was still confused, but since Pluto just looked happy to see her she ignored it. "Aren't you three going to help?" She asked turning around to look at Uranus.

Uranus put her hands up. "This isn't a threat from outside the Universe. Losing the princess…that sounds like an inners problem to me." Venus then put her hands on her hips and turned closing her eyes and concentrating very hardly.

The princess finally appeared and the Senshi, save one, shot to one knee. Venus looked up briefly and saw Sailor Moon still standing, she grabbed her wrist and yanked her down. "I don't know who you are, but I won't let you disrespect my princess." Venus hissed to Moon.

The Princess told the Senshi to stand and they did. Serenity turned toward Pluto, and Pluto bowed her head. "It's so wonderful to see you again Princess Serenity." She said. The Princess smiled.

"It's done." Setsuna said and the group opened their eyes to see nine more people in the room then before. "Now" Pluto started. "You all need to connect in your own way. Go get to know each other, and hopefully all will be well." With that Setsuna vanished.

"It's always like Pluto to just show up say there's trouble and then just vanish right in the middle of it." Uranus sighed as she leaned to one side with her hand on the space sword wrapped around her hip. "You must be her." She added pointing to Haruka, who had leaned against the wall with her arms wrapped around her chest. "At least you better be. The rest of these clowns couldn't hope to deal with me."

Haruka wasn't sure how to reply to that so she just nodded and Uranus grabbed her shoulder dragging her out of the house. "Well, let's get going then. I don't have all the time in the world."

A soft sigh came from the petite Neptune. "Uranus is always in such a hurry. But I guess we better follow her example, shouldn't we Saturn." She asked as she looked at the even smaller girl who was holding a glaive bigger than she was. Saturn nodded and looked the civilians over.

"This one's mine." She finally said. "I can feel terrible things in her past. She's got to be mine." She said again as she faced Hotaru. The photographer nodded slowly and Saturn turned on her heels. "Well, we should go then. I don't like crowds." And with that Saturn left as Hotaru rushed out after her.

"Mhmm. Now which one's mine?" Neptune asked herself. "Oh don't tell me." She added as she saw Makoto open her mouth. Mako-chan quickly shut it. Neptune examined all of them, and finally she grabbed Ami's and Michiru's wrists. "It's one of you two. I feel water in both of your energies." She popped her hip and looked between the two. "Oh I know." She finally said. "I'll have the Aqua Mirror find out which one you are." And she took out her mirror. The mirror quickly shot toward Michiru, and Neptune smiled. "I knew it was you." And with that she signaled that they should probably get going.

"Those Outers think they know everything." Venus stated as she looked at who was left. "What're we doing here anyway?" She slowly asked Mars. "The last thing I remember was us dying." She added very quietly. Mars walked up to Venus and clasped their hands together.

"Then maybe we're in heaven, since I'm here with you." Venus smiled at Mars's sweet remark, but before she could reply Rei spoke up.

"You are dead! But this isn't heaven. You've been reborn into us." She said gesturing toward the remaining girls standing around her. "Don't you know all of this?!" She burst out. "The Outer's seemed to know what was going on, why don't you four?!"

Venus smiled with a hint of seduction in her eyes. "We've been reborn…then you must be the people whose souls we reside in." Rei nodded. "Oh Mars's she must be yours. I feel attracted to her already." Rei looked at Venus weird, and thought about asking, then decided she didn't want to know.

Mars looked at Rei. "She doesn't have any fire in her." In response Rei, who had been trying to figure Venus out shot Mars a death glare with those amethyst t eye's of hers and put her hands on her hips. "I don't huh?" She just said and with that Rei grabbed Mars by the shoulder and dragged her out.

Mercury looked up at Ami who looked over Mercury. "You must be mine." She stated with no uncertainty in her voice. "Since Neptune didn't choose you; you have to be mine."

"Yes, my name's Ami." She said and bowed.

Mercury nodded her head. "Well, let's get going." The two left together. As Makoto watched Ami leave she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Jupiter staring at her.

"You've got to be mine." She said. The cook straightened up and realized that she was a full head shorter than Jupiter. "Yup." Was all she could think of to say.

Jupiter slapped her on the back. "Well then let's go chat." The two walked away while Mako-chan rubbed her back where the Lightening Goddess had hit her.

"_Who_ are you?" Venus once again asked Sailor Moon.

"I'm Sailor Moon." She again replied.

"Princess do _you_ know who this person is?" She asked. Her princess stared at Sailor Moon. "I think I do, but I'm not sure Venus." She replied.

"I know who she is." Minako interrupted them. Venus turned to look at her.

"Oh, is she yours?" Venus asked, and Minako's jaw dropped.

"No. You're mine." She replied to the goddess of love.

Venus looked her over. "Oh." She said almost sounding disappointed. "I thought you'd be prettier." And with that comment Minako fell over.

"I'm not pretty enough for you?!" But Venus ignored the question.

"Well who does she 'belong' to then." Minako just pointed to Usagi, she was still too hurt to actually talk.

Venus turned towards Usagi. "Ok, but who is our princess with?" Minako again pointed to Usagi. Venus squinted her eyed together, and then raised her eyebrows. "No." Was all she said.

"The princess doesn't fight, and the Moon has no Senshi." Venus rambled off, while Minako just nodded at her.

"Right, the princess doesn't fight, but here the Moon needed a Senshi, and so it has Sailor Moon." Minako finally was able to talk again. "Now we," she said directing her voice toward Venus, "should have a chat."

Venus protested as Minako dragged her out of the room. "I can't leave the princess alone." She yelled.

"Go my protector." The princess said and Venus stopped struggling.

Finally Usagi was alone with the other two halves of herself.

Authors Notes!

Well, I've started another one.

And I'm sorry to tell you not to expect the rest of the chapters to be so long. I want to try and have a chapter for each Senshi, but I'm not sure if that'll work, so it might be a chapter for two.

As you probably could guess from my tiny hint, my pairing are still going strong, but this fic isn't really about the couples, although I will be adding bits and pieces to the chapters.

Classic disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING! Which is always depressing to say…

And lastly…Read and Review please. I love comments!


	2. Escaping the Wind

CHAPTER 2

Haruka had had enough! She was tired of being pushed around. She was tired of being told where and when to move. She was tired of being treated like a second-class person; and she was tired of searching for "free wind" as the person standing to her left called it.

"That's it!" She yelled when Uranus grabbed the underside of her right arm to drag her off again. "I've had enough of you!" She exclaimed as she wrenched her arm out of the gloved hands of Uranus. "I'm sick and tired of searching for wind!" She threw her arms up. "You want wind?" Uranus nodded.

"Of course, there is no wind here. How can you Earthlings survive without the cool feel of the wind on your face?" Uranus asked. "And why Earthlings…" she muttered to herself. Had the Silver Millennium really been destroyed, and how far into the future was she? She had those questions and more, but the prospect of actually being able to breath had her full attention at the moment.

Haruka looked about, and realized that the Avatar of the Winds had dragged them far away from Rei's temple, and her car. Sighing she turned to the other woman.

"You can teleport right." She asked in a bored, almost tired voice.

"Of course." was the short reply she got in return. Uranus hadn't even glanced her way when giving it.

Haruka was starting to get very annoyed with this woman's lack of manners, but for the sake of Crystal Tokyo she calmly replied, "Then take us to my house, then we can go get you the wind you require so badly."

The pair arrived at the Outer's mansion a second later, and Haruka hurried off toward the garage without so much as a glance at Uranus.

The lean woman looked up at Haruka's house with eyes that told of her bored state. "This is where she lives?" Uranus whispered to herself. "Even the peasants on Uranus have nicer homes." Finally bored with the house Uranus decided to look around her, she liked this land better than the place they had been at before, it reminded her of the brief time she had spent on Jupiter, training with the King to move about the forest without a sound. It was a peaceful place, but still there was not enough wind. She found herself staring at the house again, and wondering how Haruka managed to live in it; in her opinion it wasn't nearly big enough, even though all four of the current Outer Senshi lived in it without a bit of problem.

What's that look for." She asked, as she had noticed a look of annoyance on Uranus's face.

"I was just looking up at your…home." She started. "It's so small. How do you live in it?"

Haruka took the statement as an insult, and she also took it to heart. She was once again

annoyed with the woman. "Now look here. My house may not be a castle, but it's not a dump either!"

"You anger too easily." Was Uranus's response to Haruka's outburst. "If I was you're enemy all I'd have to do would be to insult you and the fight would be won. You lack discipline." Haruka didn't have time to even respond to that because Uranus was looking at her bike as if it where something very odd.

"What is this…thing?" She asked. "Did you get it on Mercury? I'm sure one of those Mercaniuns thought it up."

"No I didn't get it on Mercury." Haruka shook her head. "The Silver Millennium is over. The planets aren't filled with life anymore; only earth. This is going to get you the wind you wanted. Now get on." Haruka finished as she patted the seat behind her.

Uranus looked the whole bike over again. She couldn't understand how this thing could call up her element, but she sat down on the seat behind Haruka anyway.

"Hang on." Haruka yelled behind her to Uranus.

"To what?" Uranus asked as she looked around.

"My stomach." Haruka replied pointing to her waist. Uranus slowly wrapped her arms around Haruka's waist and waited.

"Nothings happening." Uranus said getting annoyed. Haruka rolled her eyes and let out a very big breath.

"You know if this was a date I'd be done already." She said quietly to herself. 'And if this was a date I must be really desperate to date myself.' She thought. Haruka thought about answering Uranus for a second, and then thought better of it; instead she just revved the engine and took off.

The motorcycle raced through the country roads, leaving nothing but stirred up leaves in its wake. Haruka took the corners sharply, not slowing down anymore than she needed to. She flew past beautiful landscapes that Michiru would've made her stop to look at, and actually sped up more when she approached the lake. At wild speeds she flew her bike off road, and onto a trail that lead up the mountain, here she finally slowed a bit. When they were about half way up the mountain Haruka slowed to a stop and cut the engine. Uranus got off the bike and slowly closed her eyes; she stood there for many seconds just taking in the feel of the wind.

"Now this is better." She sighed at last. "Why don't you live up here? It's so much more freeing than that place you call a home." Her statement was met with a small nod from the racer, who was staring at the wonderful view the side of the mountain gave her.

"If I had it my way I would." She replied as she continued to look out. "But…" she started as a smirk appeared on her face. "Michiru can't live this far from the ocean…and I can't live without her." Haruka had turned and said the last bit while staring directly into the eyes of her counterpart.

Uranus simply nodded, "It must be nice to be able to live with the one you love. To sleep next to them every night, wake up to them every morning, and eat breakfast with them. I think for that I would trade all the wind on my planet." Her smile was softer than Haruka's; it was filled with hopes and dreams

"You love Neptune." Haruka wasn't really asking. You could say she was wondering. You see the present Senshi only knew bits and pieces of they're past, only the bits and pieces they're past selves wanted them to know; which in Haruka's case wasn't much. It mainly consisted of glimpses of Miranda Castle and countless duels where she was the winner. There was nothing in her memory bank about the Princess of Neptune, or even her time as a Senshi. So you could say that Haruka wanted to know how deep Michi and her love went. Where they truly soul mates? Or was their relationship just one of circumstance.

"You know the answer to that question." Uranus said sadness in her eyes. Instead of continuing, she turned away, and again closed her eyes against the heavenly winds.

That wasn't a good enough answer for Haruka though, "You can't run away all the time!" She yelled as she grabbed Uranus's shoulders and turned her around. "I want a real answer." Her face shaking with emotion, so unlike the blank canvas she usually wore. "I know you're running from something. If you loved her tell me. We will never become one, if we keep running from each other!"

"I was not running." Uranus replied in a defensive tone.

"Your body wasn't, but your mind ran far away from our conversation." Haruka replied quickly.

Uranus squinted up her eyes, "Why do you want to know."

"Because loving just Michiru isn't enough for me, I want to know that I love her in every form I take." She replied while still holding the warriors shoulders.

"The Princess of Neptune," Uranus started "and I could barely stay apart. The hardest days of my life where the days we were stuck taking care of our planets, barely allowed a moments rest. Every moment we could find, we were together, and every other moment my heart died inside." Uranus had tears in her eyes, "Does that answer your question?" She then broke the hold Haruka had on her and ran.

'Crap' Haruka thought as she watched the Uranian Princess run into the trees.

Ten minutes later Haruka was still running after her. Uranus had lost her, and Haruka was finding it very difficult to relocate her. 'Damn is it hard to keep up without my Senshi powers. Running was always second nature to me…I just thought it was a part of me.' She thought to herself as she jogged through the trees looking for the avatar of the winds.

"You could use some pointers…but you aren't that bad at keeping up." Haruka heard from above her. The tall blond looked around, and sure enough Uranus was sitting on a branch facing the ocean. "I thought about what you said while I was running." When Haruka didn't acknowledge Uranus added. "The bit about not running anymore."

"Oh right, that part…and what do think about it." Haruka said with the tiniest bit of labor in her voice, even though Haruka was a good athlete without Uranus's powers keeping up that pace had worn her out a bit.

Uranus was starring at the dark deep ocean as she said, "Who told you to stop running?"

"Michiru." Was Haruka's short reply.

"Why did she tell you that? Doesn't she know it's in a Uranian's blood to run?" Uranus asked as she continued to watch the waves rise to meet the sky and the crash back down toward the depths.

"Because she saw me running from everything." Haruka answered the princess's question. "Michiru saw that I was running from my destiny. She saw me running from the talismans…and she saw me running from her. She told me to stop running, because once you run around the world your problems are still there waiting for you."

"That sounds like something Neptune would've said to me." Uranus smiled. "Do you really love her?"

"I love her enough to stop running. Didn't you say that you would've given up all the wind on Uranus in order to be with Neptune? They're one and the same. If Michiru asked, I'd lay down my life."

"Umph. She'd never do that. If anything she'd…"

"Save my life by giving up hers." Haruka finished. "No need to tell me that. She's already died for me. That's something I never want to see again."

"They can't help it," Uranus said as she climbed down the tree. "Seeing the future can be a horrible thing." She paused and looked at Haruka. "Neptune saved my life in the final battle. She ran up to me, kissed me, and told me she loved me, and that was when I noticed the blood coming from her stomach." Uranus's face was hard, and cold, "I fought those bastards off her for hours, the last thing I remember is falling on top of her."

"Why did she do that?" Haruka asked.

"Because she thought I was the strong one. Her mirror showed her that I was going to die, and instead of letting me, she died in my place." Small tears were forming in her eyes. "She thought I'd be able to handle losing her, better than she'd be able to stand losing me." The strong woman fell to her knees sobbing. "I guess you already know how horrible that is."

"Is that why I don't remember anything about Neptune and you?" Haruka questioned her other self.

Uranus nodded, "I tried to keep everything deep inside me, hoping that you wouldn't fall for her." She looked straight at Haruka, "But I guess I can't stop soul mates from finding each other, even if I want to protect myself from heartache."

"So…" Haruka started after a short pause. "do you actually know what the hell we're supposed to be doing? I mean we've been talking for a while, and I don't really know how this is making any bit of difference."

"You're supposed to find out more about me…So that I can dissolve. You have to know that the Senshi haven't been able to rest since we died. Once we become one, you'll take over for me."

"That sounds a lot like I'm becoming you." Haruka cut back. "I don't want to lose myself here."

"Not even for your Princess?" Uranus questioned. Haruka's eyes hardened.

"I'd do anything for Koneko-chan." She straightened up, almost to a fighting stance; challenging Uranus to say anything else against her loyalty to Usagi.

"Are you sure?" Uranus asked also straightening up, and carefully getting into her fighting stance. "I'm not sure if you really would. All you've showed me is that you would do anything for Michiru. You can't be a successful Senshi if you let your love get in the way of your duty."

"You can't be successful in your duty if you don't embrace love." Haruka countered back, as she carefully started to circle around Uranus.

Uranus simply chuckled, "Is you're love strong enough to survive many years of separation? Could your heart be able to handle sacrificing your love, for the love of your kingdom? That is the question my dear self. Would you be able to make sure that your relationship never interfered with your duty to the royal family?"

They were both circling each other now. Haruka knew that Uranus didn't want her to answer that. The talking was over. There was nothing else needed to say. Uranus wouldn't believe her words; Haruka needed to prove to Uranus that she was worthy, and the best way to prove yourself to a Uranian was in a duel.

"You're going to need a weapon if you want to fight me." Uranus said as she slowly removed her scimitar from its sheath. "I'll give you to the count of ten." The short sword glittered in the moonlight, and Haruka thought it seemed different than when she would use it. She couldn't put her finger on it exactly, but the sword seemed more relaxed; it seemed to fit better in Uranus's hand than it had ever fit in hers. There wasn't much time to think about that now though, because Haruka had to find a suitable weapon, and fast.

Her eyes darted back and forth, looking for a stick thick enough to block the sword. While she was looking Uranus stood there counting.

'5' No sticks big enough to her left. '6…7'

'8' There by that tree was a log that looked as if it would be able to hold off Uranus's attacking for a bit.

'9' Haruka raced toward the tree.

'10' Haruka was at the tree, as she was picking up the stick she heard the pounding feet of the warrior behind her.

Instead of picking it up Haruka dropped to the ground, rolling away from the attack that came a little too close for comfort. As Uranus's sword swung at nothing but air the princess smiled. "Good timing, if you had finished picking that up I would've cut a deep gash into your arm." She said this as she was turning to relocate her target.

Haruka on the other hand had hid behind a tree. She needed to get back to that branch; without a weapon she was helpless against the space sword and the woman that wielded it.

"Playing hide and seek? Come now Haruka that's no way for a warrior to fight. Direct attacking, that's the real way to fight." As Uranus was talking, she started to walk away from the tree, slowly looking for any signs of the tall racer. Haruka noticing that Uranus was moving, started her careful journey back toward her weapon.

She bounced from tree to tree, hoping that Uranus wouldn't see her; the element of surprise was always a good tactic in war.

Haruka got to the branch and called out to Uranus. "Hey, I got my weapon, how about we start things over again?"

Uranus turned, a little surprised to see Haruka back at the oak tree with her weapon in hand. The teal eyes locked on each other and very similar smirks appeared on their faces as they both started racing toward the other.

As she raced toward the veteran fighter Haruka tried to replay the various duels that Uranus had won in her head. Not much was replaying itself, besides the fact that in a proper duel no Senshi powers were allowed. Which Haruka was happy about; because that meant that the Space Sword, while still a sword, would hold no magical powers. Haruka's log held a much better chance against a plain old sword.

They connected. Just as Haruka thought,; the space sword was stuck in the wood, proving that it wasn't getting any help from it's mistress. Uranus dislodged the sword from its prison, and swung again.

'Her blocking is superb, but if she doesn't start attacking soon I'll completely destroy her.' Uranus thought as she kept Haruka on the defensive.

'I've got to get a hit in!' Haruka thought as she once again blocked the small sword from coming in contact with her lean frame.

One more block, this time Uranus had tried a downward attack, causing Haruka to bring the log above her head in order to fend it off. The space sword was about half way through the weapon by now. Instead of waiting for Uranus to yank the jeweled sword out, Haruka twisted the log, effectively ripping the sword from her gloved hand.

Haruka smirked as she saw it sailing toward her. Uranus on the other hand was in minor shock. Nothing and no one had ever taken the space sword from her without her consent. As the handle got closer to her, haruka reached out her hand, ready to yank it free from the depths of the log and finally start an offensive attack. Admitting that the Space Sword was Haruka's for the moment, Uranus rolled away to the left; it was now her turn to find a suitable blockade.

'There really is nothing like the Space Sword.' Haruka thought as she flexed her fingers around the ornate handle. Carelessly she tossed the pathetic log behind her, and smiled as she swung the real weapon back and forth. She stared at the movement of Uranus's ultimate weapon. With every swing Haruka swore it was like the blade grew; almost to the length of a normal sword, but when she stopped the blade returned to normal.

New memories entered her head, but these memories weren't any thing like the normal ones she had. She saw herself walking through a giant castle. The hall she was walking down was decorated in many shades of gold, the way the paint was on the wall made it seem like a small wind was kicking up dust. She proudly walked up to a set of double doors that held the symbol of Uranus on it. 'I thought I was in Miranda Castle; this must be the door to the throne room.' Haruka thought as she saw the doors open for her from the inside.

Inside the throne room stood many people, all of them looking the young princess. Haruka smirked and looked straight ahead of her at the throne that should have held her mother and father. Instead, in the head chair sat the ruler of the Universe. Queen Serenity. The queen smiled at Haruka; and Haruka noticed that she held the Space Sword carefully in her lap.

"Come forward Princess Haruka." Serenity beckoned her. Haruka marched forward. As she came closer to the throne, she noticed her parents sitting on each side of the Queen. Her mother sat there with a knowing look on her face; while the only expression in her fathers face was the small twinkle in his eyes.

She was in front of Queen Serenity now, and the ageless Queen swept herself from the chair and looked out among the many royals and lesser royals that occupied the room.

"Today is a great day for Uranus, the Outer Planets, and the whole Silver Millennium." She turned her attention to Haruka. "Today Princess Haruka claims the Space Sword as her own, and starts her duty as leader of the Outer Senshi; Sailor Uranus!" The crowd erupted with cheers as the Queen handed over the formidable weapon. As she held her Space Sword Haruka felt herself leaving the memory and falling back to the present; where she still held the sword, and it felt as good now as it did then.

"Alright…I think I've given you enough time." Haruka shouted as she relocated Uranus and lunged at her. The Senshi of the Winds quickly jumped out of the way of the downward thrust that would've sliced her in half, and picked up a thick branch. Haruka quickly kicked the log out of her hand, before Uranus could get a good grip on it, and pointed the Space Sword at Uranus's neck.

"I've got you." She said to the warrior.

"Then let me up." Uranus said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "You win." She said bowing to Haruka. Right before Haruka's eye Uranus changed from her Senshi uniform into a formal suit. Uranus now wore dress shoes, gold pants, a gold shirt with blue jewels on it, and a blue floor length cape.

"I've always known the only person to beat me in a duel would be myself." Uranus said as she bowed to Haruka once more. "Take care of Neptune for me." She said as she was swept away by the wind.

Author's Notes:

OK! So I haven't updated in FOREVER….and I'm sorry --

Finding the differences in Uranus and Haruka was a bit harder than I thought…I think some of the other Senshi will be easier to write.

If you read my other stories…I'm working on Unwanted Guest…I promise that I will update that one…(hopefully soon)


	3. Holding up the World

Chapter 3

Minako dragged Venus down half of the steps of the Hiwaka Shrine before the Goddess threw her off.

"I can walk on my own, thank you very much." She huffed as she stopped on one of the steps to straighten her hair. While she was fixing her appearance Minako kept looking from her to the street below with an annoyed look on her face.

"So where do you go for fun around here?" Venus asked after she had made quite sure not a strand of hair was out of place. Minako didn't answer; she just stared at Venus in shock. "I said." The goddess rose her voice a bit, "Where do you go for fun around here?!"

The different voice level threw Minako out of her stupor. "Oh, well we usually go to Crown…" Venus smiled and grabbed Minako's wrist and started dragging her down the steps. "But shouldn't we find a place to talk…or something!" Minako yelled as she was being dragged down the other half of the steps.

"I'm bored!" Venus shot back. "I wanna go have some fun!" She finally let go of Mina when the two of them reached the pavement. Her face held an excitement that Minako just couldn't say no to, so she smiled and started leading the Goddess of Love toward the Crown video arcade.

While the two where walking loud whistles and cat-calls started up from practically every man they passed. Venus paid the rude greetings no mind, but after the first couple Minako started to get a little annoyed with them.

"Don't you hate when men do that?" Minako finally asked Venus, because even though she was ignoring them Venus still smiled each and every time she got attention from the males.

She smirked, "Actually I like the attention too much to get annoyed with it."

"Then why don't you acknowledge them?" Minako asked.

"Oh I couldn't do that." Venus started shaking her head and hands. "Mars would be far too angry with me if I ever encouraged it. She understands that people are drawn to me because of who I am, but would never forgive me if I chose to lead them on."

Minako scrunched up her nose. "There it is again. You talking like the two of you were romantically involved with each other or something." She threw up her hands and shook her head also.

"We are." Venus stated very plainly. "Mars is my soul mate. I could never even think about loving anyone else but her." Venus now narrowed her eyes. Minako glanced over and saw Venus staring at her.

"What..." She started to say but quickly stopped talking with the odd look the princess of Venus was giving her. The two finally locked gazes and a second later Venus's eyes grew in shock and she turned away.

"Oh my God!" She squeaked. "You two haven't found each other yet. I've just ruined the path of true love. What am I going to do…." Venus continued to rant about ruining her whole next lifetime while Minako stood there in shock over many things. First of all Rei and her where "soul mates" secondly it seemed as if just by staring into her eyes the Princess of Venus could see every romantic relationship she either had or was going to have in her lifetime.

When Minako came out of her daze she saw that the blonde goddess had stopped ranting and was leaning against a building, apparently in thought.

"It's ok." Minako said to her. "I won't tell Rei about it…Unless you think Mars will tell her like you told me." Venus huffed and looked up at Minako from behind her bangs.

"Do you think Mars would tell this 'Rei' about anything so personal? I mean would 'Rei' just tell anyone that walked up to her about her personal life? Or are the two of them really that different?" She turned her head away from Minako and started grumbling about how Mars was going to chide her about not being mature enough, and how this would've never happened if Venus could learn to keep her big mouth shut.

Minako thought about her questions while Venus kept berating herself. She concluded very quickly that Rei would not be finding anything out from Mars and that keeping this to herself would be a must. "Right." She nodded her head. "I just won't talk to Rei about it"

Venus's shoulders went slack, "You can't do that. Are you understanding what I've done to your timeline?" Minako shook her head back and forth, not understanding at all what Venus was trying to say. Venus sighed, leaned back against the wall and continued, "I've taken away your free will." Minako shrugged a little bit. Venus once again sighed and rolled her eyes, "Even though Mars is our soul mate, you still have free will to ignore that fact and if you two don't connect in this life time that will be something you need to fix in your next lifetime, but I've messed that all up! You already _know_ she's your soul mate, so now you'll second-guess everything that happens in your life. You'll be reluctant to take on new lovers because of it, and every day that goes by that she's still oblivious will be heart wrenching for you. I've failed at my job." Venus looked toward the sky, directly where her planet would be if it could be seen through the bright lights of Tokyo. "Aphrodite can you ever forgive such a careless and unworthy avatar?" The patch of sky around the second planet seemed to brighten and a pale light surrounded Venus herself. She smiled, "You were always so kind to me."

Minako had been watching Venus from the second she turned toward the sky, and a small chill ran up her spine when Venus began to glow from the light of their planet.

"You can talk to Aphrodite?" Minako finally whispered, fearing to talk too loud and ruin the moment. "I've tried many times but she never seems to answer me. I always wondered why even though I'm the Senshi of Love I can't really tell when people are in love." Venus was about to open her mouth, but Minako kept on talking. "I mean I can tell things about my friends, but myself and strangers are a complete mystery. Shouldn't I just be able to look at them and tell?"

Venus was smiling. "Well," she started. "You'll never be able to know about yourself, that's just not fair now is it? As for the rest, the answer is simple. You have no ability to see love ties at all." Minako was about to protest, but Venus kept talking. "I _mean_ that seeing love ties is a gift that I possess. You're able to see the ties with your friends because I've allowed you to. If everything goes well and we truly become one, then you'll be able to tell all sorts of things about a persons love life…probably more than you ever wanted to know." She added the last part in a whisper.

Minako caught the last part, and saw the tiniest bit of sadness enter Venus's eyes. "I'm going to hate looking at Rei now aren't I?" Minako whispered as she imagined seeing Rei's relationships with _guys_ progress, all the while knowing that they were supposed to be together. She shuddered a bit.

"I told you." Venus remarked after Minako's shudder. "I've ruined your whole timeline." She hung her head.

"We'll deal with that later." Minako said shaking her head back and forth to clear the image from it. "Right now we have to make sure that the timeline Pluto has seen vanishes." She looked at Venus.

Venus met her eyes and nodded after a second and the two started walking again.

"Minako…" The Princess started to say in a small voice. "I'm not in the mood to play anymore. Take us some place quiet, ok?" Minako didn't answer, she just nodded and kept walking.

The two walked in silence for a while, which was very hard for both of them to do; the silence was thick but unavoidable. Neither was in the mood to cheer the other up, and so they were both lost in their own thoughts. Minako steered them to a park hidden behind a group of trees, and only stopped walking when they were in front of the swings and she had plopped down into one of them and started swaying back and forth.

The park was small and deserted at this time of night. All the different giant toys slowly moved of their own accord, whenever there was a burst of wind, causing an eerie feel to the space. The trees had lost most of their leaves, leaving their branches bare and empty, and causing the place to feel more like death and less like a place for children to play. This particular park was also completely surrounded by bushes making it difficult to spot from the outside. The over all affect was spooky to say the least. Normal people would not have wanted to step inside of it after dark, but these two young women were not normal people. They didn't hesitate at all until they were at the opposite side of the park from where they entered and finally started to look around. The place was creepy, but not creepy enough to scare _them_ away. They relaxed a bit and looked over at each other.

Minako thought the Princess of Venus looked too at ease in such a spooky place; where as Venus thought the same thing about Minako.

"Aren't you afraid to be here?" Venus suddenly asked Minako as she sat down across from the blonde on the merry-go-round. Minako eyebrows rose in mild shock.

"I wanted to ask you the same thing. I wouldn't think a princess would be so at ease in a place that looks more like a graveyard than a playground." Venus looked a little hurt.

"I'm not just a princess." She stated as she straightened up as much as her back would allow while in her seated position. "I'm a Senshi." She stared right into Minako's eyes, almost daring her to forget it again.

"I know." Minako responded quickly, sorry that she had offended Venus. "I mean the only real battle you were in was the end wasn't it?" She asked as if she actually knew the answer.

"Oh right, my life is just lying about the Moon Castle. I forgot you already knew that." Venus shot back at her as she looked away, crossed her left leg over her right, and crossed her arms.

Minako realized she had truly offended the Senshi of Venus and said softly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" she paused, thinking about the right word to say. "belittle your life, or duties on the Moon." She opened her mouth to say more, but no words would form.

Venus looked back at her. Minako could see Venus's back slouch just a tiny bit. "Well, I guess from the moment we 'met' we have been tripping over each other, and hurting the other…So I'm sorry also." Venus countered Minako's apology with one of her own.

"What're you sorry for?"

A small smile crept onto the smooth features of Venus's face, "Well, for saying you weren't pretty enough for one." Minako's eyes lit up a bit, she had forgotten that up until now, but she relaxed quickly. "And, of course for potentially ruining our love life…."

"I'm sure 'we' will be able to fix that last one." Minako said with a saucy grin. "I mean, if the Goddess of Love can't seduce someone, then the rest of the world is in trouble!" She winked at Venus, and Venus doubled over laughing.

"I see your point." Composing herself she added. "But do try to make sure the seduction doesn't end up a one night stand…She really is too great to lose."

"Roger." Minako replied with a goofy salute.

"You see that's your problem." Venus replied.

Minako wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she shrugged with a confused look on her face.

"You lack military discipline. I am the leader of the Inner Senshi, the Guardians of the Princess of the Silver Millennium. Do you understand what that means?" Venus said as she stood from her seat on the merry-go-round.

"It means you guard the princess?" Minako responded with questioning stare.

"No. It means that I am in charge of three other soldiers. It means that I am the last line of defense our princess has. It means that the only Senshi equal to me is Uranus. It means that if Uranus is not present the rest of the Outer Senshi look to me for orders. It means that the Queen has meetings every week with me, in order to make sure the palace, and the rest of the kingdom is running smoothly. It means that everyone in the kingdom depends on me."

Minako felt her heart stop for a minute. Sure she knew about Venus's job as the leader of the Inner Senshi, but never had she thought about it like that. Her time as a Senshi has been spent taking orders from Sailor Moon, not really giving them herself. Would she be able to stand on her own when it came time for Crystal Tokyo?

"Wow." She was able to get out. "How do you do it?" She looked up at Venus with pleading eyes.

"That's the way I was trained." Venus replied. "I can see you don't take control very often." Venus gave her a stern look. "That can not be the case if we are going to combine. I will not leave my team without a true leader."

"Well…we've got Sailor Moo…"Minako started but Venus cut her off.

"Yea and who is this 'Sailor Moon' person?! I forgot to ask that earlier."

"She's Usagi…I mean the Princess's Senshi form." Minako replied calmly. "She runs the show, I don't, I mean we don't need to do much leading. She does it most of the time."

Venus's mouth was hanging open. "WHAT!" She practically screeched. "No no no no. The princess can't fight. She can't seriously fight. She's supposed to be protected. She can't be on the frontline." Venus kept stringing together everything to princess couldn't do, which was basically everything Usagi does.

"Woah Woah. Calm down Venus." Minako grabbed her arms put them down at her sides and started to rub them. "Calm down. It'll be ok. She's fine, the princess is fine."

Venus controlled her breathing, and gave Minako another stern look. "I don't usually get like this, but…she's seriously in the heart of battle?" Her face fell. "It can't continue like this. You have to take over. Sailor Venus is the leader, she _protects _the princess, not the other way around."

Minako nodded. "I know…and I promise that the minute Crystal Tokyo is up, Sailor Moon will disappear, and until then I'll still protect the princess _especially_ since she's fighting next to me; but not only the princess. I'll protect the rest of the Senshi as best I can. I'll take care of every person in the world if I must. As long as it keeps Usagi safe, and it makes her happy, I'll do anything."

"Good." Venus took a couple of steps back from Minako. "Because they are all in your care now. Everything is in your care." A second later Venus was bathed in an orangey light again. When the light disappeared her sailor fuka was replaced with a red and black combat uniform.

"What's that?" Minako asked as she examined the outfit.

"This is my uniform from my time spent on Mars learning how to be strong willed and to become a great leader. I wanted to show it to you." She straightened into an attention stance. "Never forget that you are the one they will look to. Never forget that you are the one whose shoulders will feel as if they are supporting Venus herself. But also never forget to be compassionate."

Venus stuck out her chin and raised her arm in salute. "Tell her I love her, when you get the chance." Venus threw out her arm as her body vanished. With that Minako was left standing in the playground alone, and feeling very mature.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Alright then! So I had planned to finish this chapter way earlier. I am so sorry that I have kept you guys waiting for almost a year. -_- That was horrible of me, and I do hope that I still have readers!

R&R please! ^_^ Thanks for reading!


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